The PCSO, which according to the Met is attached to the Road and Transportation Police Administration, remained in custody this afternoon. It comes after a video was shared on social media, which appears to show a man in a suit on a park bench. Police said in a statement that the video came to their attention shortly before 11:30 pm on Wednesday night, when they “acted immediately” with police officers “working all night” to find out what happened. Commander Kyle Gordon, who heads the Road and Transportation Police Administration, said he was “absolutely horrified” and insisted that incidents like this were “contrary” to anything that “represents decent officers and staff”. “I want to assure everyone that we are working as fast as we can to determine the full circumstances of what happened,” he said. Mr Gordon added that the Met intended to “keep the public informed at important stages of the investigation”, but because it was a criminal investigation, it was “limited to what further details” it could provide. The research is led by the Professional Standards Department of Met. Reference has also been made to the police authority, the Independent Police Conduct Office. Standards in the Met have come under scrutiny in recent months following a series of high-profile breaches of trust and public confidence. In 2021, Met Police officer Wayne Couzens was arrested and later charged with the murder of 33-year-old Sarah Everard. Couzens used his police signal to lure Sarah into his car, prompting public outcry over the lack of procedures to protect women and girls. Earlier this year, the Met texting scandal led to the resignation of power commissioner Dame Cressida Dick after the mayor of London announced that he had lost confidence in her leadership. Messages sent by officers on duty at the Charing Cross Police Department included homophobia, bigotry and racism.
